2021 KTM 450 SMR
R I D E R E V I E W
P66
T
he first time I tried supermoto in the
summer of 2015, I was rather mad at
myself. I had been riding motorcycles
for 31 years at that point, and never thought
to try this brand of competition for myself.
It was like a smack in the face with a
cold fish. I fell instantly, deeply, in love with
supermoto and everything it had to offer. I
immediately built a series of Suzuki RM-
Z450 project bikes, and in 2019, I took
the plunge and bought the Husqvarna FS
450. I love that machine almost as much
as my own son, but, if I'm honest, I've had
thoughts of moving it on and replacing it
with the bike you see here, the $11,299
2021 KTM 450 SMR.
KTM lays more claim to the groundwork
of the sport of supermoto than almost any
company on the planet. Back in the 1990s,
when supermoto as we know it today was
in its infancy, KTM had all manner of street-
and track-focused supermotos you could
buy and dominated the ultra-competitive
racetracks of Europe, America and Austra-
lia with their big single-cylinder thumpers.
Sliding
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
Supermoto is the perfect mix of pretty
much every form of motorcycle racing, and
KTM may have just released the perfect
motorcycle on which to do it
I NTO 2021 L IKEā¦